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Globe Staff

A proposed ban on gas powered leaf blowers was narrowly upheld Thursday, as opponents failed to muster enough votes to overturn the measure in a special election.

Landscapers and other opponents had mounted a campaign to overturn the ban after Arlington Town meeting approved it in May. But they needed 20-percent of the town's registered voters to turn out and vote against it.

"The Town Meeting Vote is not reversed by this election because the necessary 20% of registered voters (5,780) did not vote (No) to disprove it,'' the town said on its website on Thursday night.

There were 5,539 votes against it, and 2,619 for it, according to unofficial results.The measure now goes to the state Attorney General’s Office, which has 90 days to approve or disapprove it.

“It lost by almost 241 votes,” said Terri DeVito, who works in the Arlington clerk's office.

The measure would prohibit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers on private land between May 15 and Oct. 15. Before the vote, the town estimated that holding the election was expected to cost the town about $30,000.